British actor voices all of the Potter characters

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Listening Library 17 CDs (approximately 21 hours) $79.95. (Also available on cassette) www.listeninglibrary.com

No need for Harry Potter withdrawal quite yet. Fans can experience J.K. Rowling’s finale afresh through the extraordinary rendering of the final book in its entirety by a British actor who brings his own magic to the task.

Jim Dale, Tony Award-winning stage and film actor, has recorded each book in the series, beginning with “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” earning multiple Grammy nominations along the way, and a 2000 Grammy Award for “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.”

His fifth outing, “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” earned Dale a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records for the most character voices -- 134 -- for one book.

As both enthralling narrator and as the distinctive voices of more than 200 major and minor players -- whether Harry or Hermione, Nearly Headless Nick or non-magical Muggle, house-elf, Death Eater or viperish Voldemort himself -- Dale wraps up the tale, once again transforming Rowling’s written words into vivid radio theater for the mind.

Monster Blood Tattoo: Foundling Listening Library 7 CDs (8 hours, 34 minutes) Ages 12 and up; $45 www.listeninglibrary.com

Look no further for a post-Potter fantasy fix than D.M. Cornish’s dark Dickensian tale about Rossamünd Bookchild, a curiously named orphan at Madam Opera’s Estimable Marine Society for Foundling Boys and Girls. In a richly imagined empire called the Half-Continent -- peopled by humans, bizarre machines and monsters of all description -- magic and mystery surround Rossamünd as he leaves Madam Opera’s to begin perilous service as a lamplighter.

Kidnapped by a wicked ship’s captain and escaping into the keeping of a fierce and beautiful monster killer, the foundling finds portents of more mystery ahead regarding the world of monsters and Rossamünd himself. Actor Humphrey Bower’s top-notch performance gives full value to this remarkable tale.

-- Lynne Heffley